There nlwnys hns been ancl there will be jealousy and odium towards God's ministers ns "tnking too much upon them." As Moses bad found it out already, he knew by sorn~ experience what it wns likely to bo in the future. Hence: 5. Here is a prnyer which tnkcs its shnpo from a review of tho vnrie<l facts named above (ver. 11), that a blcssin,,. might attend on their consecrated encrgie.~: "Bless, Lord, his strength;" that the work might be accepted in God's sight; nnd that the enemies and haters of the tribe, who rose up in jealousy against the oITTce and those who· filled it, might be put to utler shame 11 Here is a mass of truth suggested of great interest and value. I. There is a ministry appointed by God under the Christian economy. H. To this office great honour now belongs. l{f. Its faithful discharge makes varied demands on those who hold it. IV. These demands cannot be rightly met without entire and unreserved conse- cration. V. However faithful God's ministers may be, they will certainly meet with hatred and opposition. VI. That their work may, in the midst of all difficulty, be divinely accepted ar.d guarded, may well be made matter of earnest prayer. Ver. 12.-The blessing on Benjamin; or, safety in the sheltering care of Divine love. Though not without difficulty in some points of detail, the general tenor of this blessing on :S-enjamin is tolerably clear. It is well known that Benjamin was the object of his falher's special love. The expiring lawgiver seems to see in that a reflection of a tenderer and mightier, yea, a Divine love, which, as it had been manifest to the head of his tribe in time past, would also be manifest to the tribe itself in the ages yet to come. Benjamin bad been and would be " the beloved of the Lord." The words, "he sliall dwell between his shoulders," are variously interpreted (see the Exposition; also Keil, Calvin, Jameson, the 'Speaker's Commentary,' et al. in loc.). We prefer the simpler meaning accepted by Calvin, that the figure is that of a father carrying on his shoulders a young and feeble child (see eh. i. 31). During all the changes of Israel's history, a special lustre shone forth from this tribe. From hence its first king was chosen. On or hy its territory was God's "foundation" in the holy mountains. And as far on as the time of the first century of the Christian era, Panl reckoned it as one of his points of native glorying that he was of the tribe of Benjamin (see Ilom. xi. 1; Phil. iiL 5). Our topic for meditation is-Safely in the sheltering care of Divine love, an inestimable blessing. I. THERE ARE THOSE WHOM GOD LOVES WITH A SPECIAL LOVE. They are, in a degree to which others are not, "the beloved of the Lord." No doubt there is a sense in which it is true that God loves all mankind. His love to our race is such that he bas given us the noblest gift which even Heaven itself could bestow (John iii. 16; Rom. v. 8 ; Eph. ii. 4). This is a love of benevolence.. But our Lord speaks of something further in John xiv. 21, 23; xvi. 27. And Paul the apostle, in describing the blessings of a justified life, speaks of the " love of God" being " shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost," i.e. a pervading sense of that love. But who are they who are thus specially loved of God? They do not belong, as such, to any nation, tribe, or tongue. 'l'hey may be found in all of them. Those who are "in Christ," pardoned, renewed, accepted, justified, sanctified,-these, these are "beloved of God, called to be saints." II. THEY CAN REJOICE "ALL THE DAY LONG" IN THAT NEW RELATIONSHIP WHICH IS THE CREATION OF REDEEMING LOVE. In the figure used in the text, and in a not dis- similar verso in eh. i. :n, there is the underlying thought of a gracious fatherly relation. That is also disclosed in the gospel; and in both cases it bas its reci- procal-that of "son" (see Rom. viii. 14-17). This is not that general relation to God indicated in Acts xvii. 28; that is common to man as man. This is peculiar to those who are born agnin. The former may be and is marred by sin. The latter will never bo; it is made possible through a propitiation for sin by the blood of Christ, 1 On the prayer of Moses conoerning the U rim and the Thummim, see Hengstenberg's
• Egypt nnd the Books of !\loses,' pp. 14~-153. 544 THE BOOK OJ<' DEUi.'ERONOMY. [en. xxxm. 1-20.